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enFewer contestants at fiddlers' convention this yearhttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/fewer-contestants-fiddlers-convention-year
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/screen_shot_2015-08-02_at_5.33.02_pm.png" alt="" title="" align="left" hspace="6" /><p>
<strong>Staff Reports</strong></p>
<p>
Registration for the Galax Old Fiddlers&rsquo; Convention is down by 90 contestants from 2014, a smaller drop than last year, when 141 fewer signed up for the event.</p>
<p>
Last year&rsquo;s decrease was one of the largest drops in the past four years. This year&rsquo;s total is 1,585.</p>
<p>
Registration numbers have been declining slowly but steadily after topping out at 2,004 contestants for the event&rsquo;s 75 anniversary in 2010. The number of contestants dropped to 1,909 in 2011, then decreased to 1,675 by 2014.</p>Suspects charged with officer assault, escape attempthttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/suspects-charged-officer-assault-escape-attempt
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/screen_shot_2015-07-30_at_2.53.30_pm.png" alt="" title="" align="left" hspace="6" width="149" height="85" /><p>
<strong>Staff Reports</strong></p>
<p>
Galax police handled three recent cases involving the assault of an officer, an attempted escape from custody, illegal drugs and burglaries.</p>
<p>
On July 24, Arley Jason Simpkins, 29, of Galax, was arrested by Capt. James Cox on several charges, according to a police department report.</p>Stuffed with love: sewing group helps kidshttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/stuffed-love-sewing-group-helps-kids
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/animals.jpg" alt="Rhonda Todd has volunteered every week. She also sews at home and brings in new patterns to try out." title="Rhonda Todd has volunteered every week. She also sews at home and brings in new patterns to try out." align="left" hspace="6" width="78" height="85" /><p>
Mandy Archer and Grace Kirk are upstairs at Chestnut Creek School of the Arts, merrily sorting through a scrap box, trying to place out squares, strips and odd-shaped pieces of cloth left over from previous projects for further use.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first night!&rdquo; says Archer, picking through a handful of cloth. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m following Ms. Grace here, she&rsquo;s my teacher.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Kirk explains, holding up an irregular but good-sized scrap, &ldquo;The little bitty ones are trash, but [Penney Klaproth] told us not to throw the other ones away.&rdquo;</p>Audit finds more problems in clerk's officehttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/audit-finds-more-problems-clerks-office
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/carroll_county_complex_aerial_photo.jpg" alt="" title="" align="left" hspace="6" width="128" height="85" /><p>
HILLSVILLE &mdash; A state audit of the Carroll County Clerk of the Circuit Court&rsquo;s office has discovered repeat findings of issues that could reportedly lead to lost revenues and assets, or compromise the clerk&rsquo;s fiscal accountability.</p>
<p>
Last year, a two-year audit examining the months of Jan. 1, 2012 - Dec. 31, 2013, turned up more than a quarter of a million dollars in incorrectly classified, disbursed and miscoded funds.</p>Fiddlers flocking to Galax for weeklong festivalhttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/fiddlers-flocking-galax-weeklong-festival
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/john_nunn_fiddlers_park_2014.jpg" alt="This 2014 photo by John Nunn shows what Felts Park will look like by Sunday afternoon, after more than 1,000 campers move in." title="This 2014 photo by John Nunn shows what Felts Park will look like by Sunday afternoon, after more than 1,000 campers move in." align="left" hspace="6" width="237" height="85" /><p>
<strong>Staff Reports</strong></p>
<p>
Galax&rsquo;s population will soar in the coming week, as thousands of fiddlin&rsquo; fans descend on the city. Felts Park will open its gates at 7 a.m. Sunday for the 80th Annual Old Fiddlers&rsquo; Convention. The competition opens Monday night and lasts through Aug. 8.</p>
<p>
Most of the convention&rsquo;s expected 1,300 campers will show up Sunday to set up camp.</p>Elk Creek man charged in crash that injured troopershttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/elk-creek-man-charged-crash-injured-troopers
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/trooper_stumbo_car.jpg" alt="Trooper Stumbo’s car after the collision." title="Trooper Stumbo’s car after the collision." align="left" hspace="6" width="151" height="85" /><p>
<strong>Staff Reports</strong></p>
<p>
An Elk Creek man was charged in connection with a crash that injured two Virginia state troopers Tuesday on Interstate 81 in Pulaski County.</p>
<p>
At approximately 5:30 a.m., a tractor-trailer traveling north on I-81 became disabled and had to stop along the left shoulder and travel lane at mile marker 96.</p>Grayson grand jury issues indictmentshttp://www.galaxgazette.com/content/grayson-grand-jury-issues-indictments-4
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/grayson_county_courthouse_7.jpg" alt="" title="" align="left" hspace="6" width="119" height="85" /><p>
<strong>By LARRY CHAMBERS, Staff</strong></p>
<p>
INDEPENDENCE &ndash; A Sparta, N.C., man was indicted by a Grayson County Circuit Court grand jury last Friday on charges involving child pornography.</p>
<p>
Harrison Leland Edwards, 24, was indicted for soliciting a child through use of a communications system and soliciting or production child pornography.</p>Galax/Carroll relay raises $71,000http://www.galaxgazette.com/content/galaxcarroll-relay-raises-71000
<img src="http://www.galaxgazette.com/sites/www.galaxgazette.com/files/imagecache/thumb85/p1000061.jpg" alt="" title="" align="left" hspace="6" width="113" height="85" /><p>
HILLSVILLE &mdash; Carroll County High School&rsquo;s football field once again served as a battleground for a community intent on eliminating the threat of cancer.</p>
<p>
A total of 135 registered participants gathered for this year&rsquo;s Galax-Carroll Relay for Life event last Saturday, where they raised more than $71,000 for the American Cancer Society, to assist in the ongoing search for a cure.</p>